That One Dance
by Ally147
Summary: A spin on the dance floor was all it took for them to come full circle. EgoShipping. GaryxMisty


This is the result of studying non-stop for three days, and being perhaps a little too excited about the prospect of the new Mega Evolutions for Pokémon X and Y. It's short and sweet, but I had to get right back into the studying, I just needed a distraction for a while! EgoShipping as per usual, hope you enjoy :)

'One Dance'

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"May I have this dance?"

For the first time that night, Misty looked up from her silk-covered lap and into the twinkling green eyes of the most infuriating, egotistical, self-centered son of a bitch she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. He held out a hand and looked at her pointedly, waiting for her to take it.

She sighed inwardly. This was supposed to be a _fun_ celebration; the discovery of further evolutionary forms for specific Pokémon when exposed to the right elements was beyond groundbreaking, one of the most exciting scientific discoveries in recent memory, completely worthy of the black tie gala complete with a dinner, dancing and even the proper unveiling of the research before it was released to the general public. Instead she found herself sitting at her designated table, in her designated spot complete with the obligatory misspelled name card, across from the man she hadn't seen since he had left to pursue the, at the time, purely theoretical idea of the so-called Mega Evolutions when he was sixteen years old.

Six years, one monumental success, and more millions on top of his already overinflated bank account later, Gary Oak was back.

If Misty had her choice, she never would have had to see him again. The time apart had done absolutely nothing to quash her feelings and only served to make her feel bitter and vindictive for begrudging him his dreams and success in the first place.

Seeing him standing in front of her now with his perfectly cut tux that left nothing of his lithe musculature to the imagination, hair tousled and styled in the usual high spikes that probably weren't appropriate for such a venue, his hand outstretched with that devastatingly handsome smile on his face, it made her heart soar and her stomach clench painfully with guilt.

"I…uh, I don't think so…" she trailed off hesitantly, squirming uncomfortably in her seat.

"You can agree to one dance now or I can come back at the beginning of each new song until you agree, plying you with drinks if I need to," he said seriously as his eyes sparkled with amusement.

She let out a deep breath in a sigh, "One dance?"

"One dance," he confirmed with a nod, waggling his fingers in front of her face to get her to take his hand.

She eyed his hand as though she expected it to explode, tentatively reaching out her own to brush her fingers against his, her heart leaping into her throat as he gently entwined their fingers, pulled her from the chair and led her gracefully onto the dance floor, ducking and weaving between other happy couples and past a menagerie of Pokémon ice sculptures to a spot right in the centre of the floor that offered them a perfect vantage point to take in from all angles the raised ceilings, the priceless paintings on the walls and the overall splendor and grandeur of the ballroom.

She gasped softly as his free hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer so her body lay flush against his warm one as he led her in a simple sway.

"It's been a while Red; how have you been?" he asked quietly so only they would hear.

She gulped as his warm breath tickled her ear, "Fine."

"Just fine?" he repeated with a chuckle as his thumbs rubbed soft, small circles on her lower back. "That sounds boring."

"Oh, so I have to be holing myself off in a far off laboratory to qualify as interesting, do I?" she snapped indignantly, fighting without success to pull away, he only held her tighter.

He chuckled again, "That's not what I meant. You've always been… interesting, sometimes a little more than that."

One song bled into another and another after that, but for reasons they couldn't understand or acknowledge, neither moved to pull away.

"You look gorgeous tonight," he said softly against her ear, reveling in the shudder that coursed through her body at his words. "You always look gorgeous in green."

"Thank you," she replied quietly, tensing as she remembered she had been wearing green the day he left, "You look good too."

"Just good?" he asked teasingly, "And here I was going for handsome, breathtaking, amazing-"

She swatted his shoulder good-naturedly, "You clearly don't need my help on that front."

The song changed again to one of a slower tempo and their dancing slowed to suit. "I'm sorry about how things went down when I left Red," he said suddenly.

Her head jerked up from where it had been resting against his shoulder, "It's in the past," she said with much more conviction than she felt. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"Of course it still matters!" he exclaimed, looking down at her with wide, imploring eyes. "You told me you loved me, and I left!" He shook his head, "I shouldn't have left it like that."

"And yet you did," she muttered petulantly.

"I did," he nodded. "But I feel like I should explain myself."

"I'm listening."

He took a deep breath. "You have to understand right off the bat Red, when I took the offer I… I knew I loved you too, and I'm sorry I didn't respond or even come out and say it sooner, but what did you expect to happen? That job was the absolute opportunity of a lifetime; I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't take it!"

"I didn't expect you not to take it!" Misty cried, pulling back until they were at arm's length. "It was everything you had ever wanted! I just thought…" she trailed off with a sigh, her eyes cast downwards, "I don't know what I thought."

"Misty, if I had turned around and told you that I loved you too and we started some stupid long distance relationship you would have resented me, and I probably would have resented you too, likewise I would have resented you if I decided not to take the job. But look how long this took! Do you seriously think you could have waited six years for me?"

She sighed and allowed herself to be pulled back into his embrace again, seemingly closer to him now than she had been before. "No, I would have hated it, and we probably would have had some nasty falling out six months in and I wouldn't even be able to look at you right now."

"I'm not saying what I did was necessarily the best thing to do," he continued, smoothing a hand up and down her back in an intimate caress, "I know I could have handled it better. I certainly didn't want you to think I hated you but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. I'm sorry I hurt you for no good reason, but if it helps any I thought about you quite a lot."

"I thought about you all the time too," she admitted softly, resting her head back in the crook of his neck. "Six years passed Gary, but I never let you go."

"I'm sorry."

She jerked back up again, fire in her eyes, "What the hell are you sorry for?"

He had the tiniest hint of a smirk on his lips, "I'm sorry you pined away for me all these years."

She snorted and relaxed into his embrace again, "I wouldn't necessarily call it _pining_, but I did miss you."

His arms wrapped around her properly in a hug, "I missed you too."

"So," she began tentatively, "When do you leave again?"

"Leave again?" he repeated, puzzled, "Where am I going?"

"I assume you're going to retreat back into your favoured scientific seclusion once we're done here, correct?" she bit out, unable to keep the bitterness from her tone.

He laughed suddenly, "Not bragging or anything Red, but after all this I could easily retire from research and do whatever takes my fancy for the rest of my life. I got my big one and a few little ones here and there too. I have no reason to leave again."

A bubble of hope swelled inside her at these words, "You quit researching?"

"I don't know if 'quit' is quite the right word," he said ponderingly, "I love it too much to stop, but the stuff I want to do now isn't anything that can't be done here in Kanto. I'm moving back into the Oak place with Gramps until I find my own place."

"But I thought you'd want-"

"You know," he said teasingly, "For all your assumptions, you've never actually thought to ask me what it is I do want, and I'd probably know that far better than you, wouldn't I?"

She blushed, "What you want isn't my business anymore."

He looked at her very seriously for a moment before drawing her closer again and resting his head against hers. "That's the thing though, isn't it Red?" he said softly against her hair as they continued to sway gently to the music. "You won't ask that. If you did that, you'd be left with the possibility that my answer would be _you._ And the idea of that terrifies you Red, doesn't it?"

She pulled back to search his eyes for any hint of deception, "Me?" she breathed.

His lips quirked teasingly upwards, "Red, I've been in love with you since you finally left Ashy boy in a ditch and came back home and struck up a proper friendship with me, maybe I even crushed on you before that. We were best friends that became something more, though for a long time I thought I was the only one that felt that way." He lifted a hand to softly caress her cheek, "Did you honestly think I'd forget that?"

"You're staying?" she breathed moments later, "And you love me?"

He laughed, an honest to goodness smile breaking out on his face that took him from good looking to gorgeous in a nanosecond, "Right on both counts."

With a brilliant smile of her own to match he closed the negligible distance between them to kiss him with all the pent up longing she had endured since he left. A low rumble sounded from his throat as she parted her lips slightly to tentatively reach her tongue to his in a slow, languorous dance that seemed to last for hours.

"I love you too," she whispered as they pulled apart for air, "Have done for years."

His answering smile was smug but no less happy. Instead of answering with words he ducked his lips to hers again in a sweet push and pull full of unspoken words and promises.

"You know," Misty said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "We've been dancing for ages now, and I only recall agreeing to one dance."

"True," he nodded, "But we never actually stopped, so," he gripped her waist and tilted her back in a daringly low dip with a slow, sensuous smile. "It still counts as one dance."

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**AN: **God I hate it when I try to write something funny and it comes out decidedly not funny! Meh, whatever, it's passable, though it's a little fast in my opinion, the perils of rushing it I suppose...

I took a few liberties with the whole concept of the mega evolution bit, for the sake of this little story do me a favour and just suspend your disbelief for a moment and roll with it? Thanks!

Hopefully this will keep my readers of 'To the Happy Couple' tied over until I can bang out the next chapter. It's half-done but with a few assignments that I need to wrap up due this week it won't be done and up until sometime next week.

Reviews make the writing world go 'round!


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